Pasta is incredibly versatile and quick to cook, making it perfect for speedy dinners and busy households. But sometimes, despite your best efforts, you can end up with mushy macaroni, slippery spaghetti and overly salty sauces. To help you get your dishes right every time, we've compiled the ultimate list of mistakes most people make when cooking pasta – revealing the tips and techniques you should be using instead.

Click or scroll through our gallery to discover 37 common pasta cooking mistakes, counting down to the one people make the most.

We've based our ranking on how common the mistakes are and how much they can affect your finished dish, taking into account expert advice, research and the experience of our team. This list is unavoidably subjective.

You've been cooking pasta wrong your entire life